


The Raven's Keeper

by Lyanna_Targaryen



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Dalish Elves, Drama, Elves, F/M, Jaws of Hakkon, Jealousy, Love Triangles, Pre-Tresspaser, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-09-10
Packaged: 2019-06-22 21:45:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15591372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyanna_Targaryen/pseuds/Lyanna_Targaryen
Summary: A ripping in the Veil causes quakes to rattle the Fade and disrupts the ancient magic woven there. Dirthaman, noticing a crack in the barrier that keeps him contained, makes a sacrifice in order to see what's become of the world he's been sealed off from. His focus in the new world turns toward a certain elven Inquisitor who carries with her a powerful magic that he recognizes from his past. Who is she and why does she posses the magic of the Dread Wolf? More importantly, why does he find her more fascinating than anything he's come across over his thousands of years existing?Can the ancient God of Knowledge learn what pulls him toward her, or will he ignore his heart and use her power to his own devices?Whatever the Raven comes to choose, the Dread Wolf will not take kindly to an old rival trying to posses the woman he claims as his.





	1. Prologue

A soft, sweet melody of yearning and promise sang in the poisoned air, as the breach in the Veil remained splintered and left to swell. The inviting song, so faint yet resilient, let its voice only be heard by those who would heed its tune. Ravens, loyal and cunning, flocked to the breach and danced in the sky to the whispers that only they could hear whispering from beyond the Veil.

When the song was complete, the ravens swooped down and took perch on the scorched ruins that sat below. Hundreds of ebony eyes stared up in a collective silence. Not a single feather twitched.

The world around the hilltop came to pause until finally the vocalist broke the peace and allowed the birds to know of its approval and that a decision has been made. The chosen’s name carried in the breeze to those that waited below and the birds rejoiced in response.

A raven no larger than the others, but noticeably finer in appearance flapped its great wings and took to the skies. The others followed in excitement but did not surpass the chosen.

The voice beyond the Veil beckoned its chosen raven closer to the breach and sang promise of a safe passage. The bird soared up and up until the power of the Veil caught the bird and swallowed it whole.

A swirl caw echoed in the landscape of the Fade as the Raven emerged. Curious spirits watched the living creature soar past them and took notice of the bird’s flight path. Two living beings had traveled that particular route before, and only one was known to return.

The raven continued on until it arrived at a wall of green, crackling magic. The same magic that made up the Veil and closed off the world from the Fade. A magical spell so powerful in its construction that it cast its owner into several millennia’s of slumber. And for thousands of years, the barrier stood indestructible. That was, until the awaking of the orb.

The explosion at the conclave had rattled not just Thedas but the entirety of the Fade as well. A ripple effect was caused; triggering magical quakes and shudders coursing through the Fade and disrupting the terrain. Most structures went unaffected by the eruption, but that could not be said for all.

A dark, ethereal figure appeared from the other side of the magical barrier and the raven screeched in acknowledgment. It fluttered closer and listened as new whispers sang in the air. The murky silhouette directed the bird’s attention higher to where a crack invisible to the eye remained fragmented after the ripping of the Veil.

An ancient chant hissed from beyond the barrier and the figure stood immobile as a golden, blinding-bright orb escaped from the chanters chest and rose high into the air. The raven flew to where the crack in the magical barrier resided and obediently waited as the small orb ghosted along the shimmering wall of magic. The pace of the old chant increased, and the observing spirits on the other side of the divider hummed along with the magic that pulsed in the air.

The ball of light prodded the crack experimentally then slipped into the fracture with hast. The giant, green barrier quivered and sparked furiously as a result, and the spirits grew silent as they waited to behold what would happen next. For several seconds the wall trembled in its battle to hold back its prisoner, but the powerful magic woven there could do nothing to mend the crack.

After one final shudder of the wall, the little golden orb erupted from the crack and pierced the chest of the black raven like an arrow. The bird squawked in alarm then went limp and fell through the air. It thumped onto the ground and lingered there motionless and unresponsive. A few spirits curiously ventured forward but came to a sudden halt when the raven began to twitch and spasm in the dirt.

Excited cheers erupted amongst the onlookers when the bird squirmed on its back then flipped over and found its proper footing. The ancient spell had worked and they’d been lucky enough to witness such a phenomenon.

A weakened whisper cam from the other side of the barrier and the raven hoped closer to listen. The dark figure collapsed onto their knee and lifted a hand to the green wall that now separated a part of itself. The raven remained for several more moments in grievance then flapped its great wings and took to the skies. The spirits followed in eagerness and encouraged the bird on its journey back to the tear in the Veil where it had ventured from.

They stopped far enough away where the Veil wouldn’t forcefully suck them through and said their farewells to the raven that now carried a small part of an ancient God’s soul within its body.

After thousands of years, Dirthamen was now free.


	2. Alifalon

Nothing could’ve prepared Dirthamen for what occurred when he reentered the physical realm. He assumed memories were enough to recall on all that's been lost to him, but it seemed even his thoughts could distort and wane over extended stretches of time.

The raven jerked erratically and stifled a cry; overwhelmed by the distress that radiated from the soul that it carried. Carelessly the old god had let his soul tune into that of the raven's, eager to experience the world he once knew and triggered a sensory surplus that transferred to his host. Dirthamen severed the aching connection and the bird squawked and fluttered to regain its equilibrium, but it was too late.

The light folded in on itself and the world become distant as the raven’s vision strained to refocus and fight against the new weight of their eyelids. Dirthamen could only observe as the skies disappeared and reappeared, each time a greater distance between his host and the clouds.

The bird was falling.

* * *

 

Alifalon witnessed the bird burst through the tear in the Veil in pure astonishment. Somehow the sleek creature had remarkably discovered an entrance to the land forbidden but had also survived long enough to navigate through the Fade and return to the physical realm once more. He barely had time to entertain himself with whether the bird was Fade-touched or not and begin to show signs of deformity when quite unexpectedly the article of his admiration fell from the sky.

The old elves fingers rigidly gripped his staff, his eyes wide in terror as the black creature struggled to keep airborne before its wings gave up. Alifalon was darting through the woods the next moment.  
He was several yards away when the bird broke through the tree's canopy and bounced ruthlessly off several branches before making contact with the forest floor with a dull thud. Alifalon came to a slow halt a few paces away from where the feathered creature laid. He took long, deep breaths to ease the burn in his lungs and calm his thudding heart.

Upon closer inspection, Alifalon recognized the bird to be a raven and an eccentric sensation of suspicion and fear swelled in his chest. His gray eyes lifted to where the breach sat heavily in the sky and his gaze narrowed as ludicrous theories began to take root and crave more of the impossible.

Alifalon startled when a raven cried out from somewhere nearby. To his left hidden in the brush of a tree was movement. The bird called out again and this time was acknowledged and responded to by another of its kind in the next tree over. The elf took half a step back, suddenly aware that the trees around him weren’t as absent of life as he thought them to be.

More birds seemed to materialize from the shadows and fluttered their long wings, no longer attempting to keep their presence secret from him. Alifalon observed the mass of ravens curiously as they scrutinized him in return. He knew they were debating his presence, and to show them he meant no harm he slowly placed his staff on the ground at his feet.

That had been the right decision, he realized, when one of the ravens leaped from its high perch and flapped to land next to the raven that Alifalon had witnessed escape the Fade. Goosebumps arose all across the elves body when magic suddenly flared around him and the ravens collectively cawed out in a frenzied choir.

Alifalon slowly lowered himself to the ground, his head dizzy from the powerful incantation that was being cast. He groaned and placed a hand on his forehead as if it’d clear his sudden light-headedness but the action was futile. The magic was like nothing he’d ever come across before in all his years of studying and teaching the trait. And most curious of it all, the source of the power appeared to be resonating from the deceased raven.

Alifalon managed to keep himself aware enough to witness a brilliant glowing orb of light rise from the chest of the fallen raven and dart into the bird that stood nearby. The raven cried out and flipped over, squirming in the dirt as if the ball of light was trying to find purchase in its new host.

It was a remarkable thing to witness, as it was startling. The act of possession was a rare thing to behold, but even more so when the host was compliant with the spirit.

The magic in the air took one final breath of release before it moved like a receding wave and sunk into the spirit’s new host. Alifalon lowered his hand from his forehead and prepped his knees to lift him, believing he’d seen all there to be when suddenly the little raven glowed and started to grow. The light became too intense and he closed his eyes and bowed his head.

When the intense glow died down and the light became bearable, Alifalon peeked his eyes open and let them adjust before turning back to the raven.

Except the raven was gone and in its place was an elven man.

The ravens in the trees were silent, completely absorbed by the image of the elf laying face first in the dirt. It wasn’t until the man made the smallest of movements with his right leg did the birds become lively again. The theories he thought impractical about the raven that’d survived the Fade didn’t seem so absurd anymore, and Alifalon wasn’t sure whether to find joy in that or dread.

The nude man groaned and Alifalon stumbled back to his feet and rushed to the other’s side. He kneeled to his left and hesitantly hovered his hands above his back, unsure how to proceed. He let his magic pool in his palms for a moment as he debated his choices and the consequences carefully before let his magic spill from his hands and absorb into the man’s skin. Alifalon noticed the man’s back muscles tense in response at the magical probing.

“I only mean to help,” Alifalon softly assured, and moved his hands above the man’s head to examine the state of his mentality. “You are…being overwhelmed by this new realm. I can feel your desperation to adapt, but forcing yourself will only result in more pain. Detach yourself from all your senses except for sound and we will start from there.”

He must’ve heard him and agreed because the man’s whirlwind of emotions gradually reduced until he was left with only pain, exhaustion, and confusion. Alifalon sighed in content and moved to remove his long robe and place it over the man’s body.

“My name is Alifalon.” He placed a gentle hand on the other’s back. “And like my given name, I would be honored to guide you on this journey, my Lord.”


End file.
